The author of Realmz is Tim P. Phillips
The game is brought to you by those nice people at Fantasoft

This page has been accessed
times since April 18, 1996

Letter from the Editor...

Here's my latest update of the FAQ.

----

Happy New Year! And with this new year came a new version of Realmz.
It's basically the same game, but there's major changes in names of things and
in the way "armor" works. Just check out the "What's New" Section.

Now, I've put a lot of work into this document. So if you're
not going to read the !$%#^&*! manual, then PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE read this before you e-mail Tim with your questions.

This document is organized such that general "What is it?"
and system questions come first. Technical or "How do I?"
questions are next, and finally tips and strategies at the end.
I've tacked on some info for hackers, but if you want the updaters
to work on your Realmz scenario driver, I'd be careful with hacking
if I were you.

Keywords, chapter and section titles are now hypertext links
for easy browsing, and index of keywords appears at the end of this document.
Updated and changed questions will be marked with a '~' to let you know
I added it recently. Information taken from other sources have
been included and given a byline when available. Any changes I've
made to other people's contributions are enclosed in square brackets: '[ ]',
and any additional comments I've made are enclosed in parentheses '( )'.
I've endeavored to mark any changes/additions of my own with an
"by the editor": '--ed.'

You need to read this only if you are the kind
of person that will sue. Please do read this, because I cannot afford to
be sued.

0.1

I am not the author of Realmz. I am not the author of any
of its scenarios. I am not responsible for the inappropriate use
of any information provided in this document. If you decide to
hack your version of Realmz and discover that you've trashed your
game, you computer, your marriage, or your life, please do not
blame me. I do not claim that the information in this document
to be true or accurate. Any opinions I express in this document
are mine and mine alone, unless otherwise quoted, then, of course
they are someone else's. I am not to be held responsible for any
injuries-- physical, mental, emotional, or financial--, loss of
job or spouse, damage to your computer such that it is no longer
useful for anything but to make toast, or anything else that may
result from reading this document or playing Realmz after reading
this document.

A) Realmz is a fantasy role playing game, where you can generate
characters of various castes (fighters, sorcerers, rogues...)
and wander around in this world trying to complete quests and
kill monsters, while accumulating wealth, experience, and various
other items (weaponry, armor, magic items...)

It is a top down "Ultima" style RPG. Your party of
up to six characters take turns attacking when in combat, and
you can control what weapon or spell each character attacks with.
Unlike Ultima, this game has "zoom in's" from the landscape
to battle map.

Realmz itself is the "scenario driver". Included with Realmz, is the
"City of Bywater" [CoB] scenario. Additional scenarios can be
installed to Realmz. The following scenarios are currently available.

City of Bywater [CoB] version 4.2.2
Prelude to Pestilence [PtP] version 4.2.1
Assault on Giant Mountain [AoGM] version 4.2.1
Castle in the Clouds [CitC] version 4.2.1
Destroy the Necronomicon [DtN] version 4.2.1
Search for the White Dragon [SftWD] version 4.2.1
Griloch's Revenge [GR] version 1.1

A) If you have membership at America Online or CompuServe you can be
the first in your neighboorhood get it. If not, wait patiently a few
days while some nice person uploads it to your local mac archive. You
can anonymously FTP it from there or any good mirror thereof, or it is
available from many WWW sites.

A) Bill Fergerson's (no more official than the other) "Realmz Home Page" is at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/
Herein, you can find this FAQ, FAQ's for PtP, and Tip Sheets for AoGM,
CoB, Ptp, and CitC.

A) The following information is valid for Realmz Scenario Driver
V3.1:

CPU:

requires a 68020 machine or better (due to the size and complexity
of the game it runs slow even on my high end 68030 --ed.).

Monitor:

of screen resolution of 640 X 480 pixels with 16 or 256 color
capability. This game will not run off of Apple's 12 in.
monitor or powerbooks with 640 X 400 display's. (I am able
to play quite well on a Powerbook Duo 270c, whose monitor is
only 8.4 inches. Virtual Desktop and this type of utilities are
not known to work --ed.)

Memory:

2.5 Mb RAM. Realmz requires 2500K but performance is maximized
at 3500K. (The more memory you can afford to give it the
happier the program will be. --ed.)

Hard Drive:

6 Mb of hard drive space for Realmz, the Scenario Driver
and the included City of Bywater Scenario.

Add 200Kb for your own sounds and portraits.

Add ~1.5Mb per additional scenario. (CitC is 1.9MB, others are
around 1.3Mb or less -- ed.)

Add 4Kb per character you generate. (I have 144Kb worth -ed.)

Add 300Kb to 400Kb per saved game (that's 3.5MB if you save all
10 games --ed.)

Add ~600Kb of temporary files created while playing.

Gives you a grand total of: 16Mb hard drive space preferred for
unhindered play. (Not a big sacrifice if you ask me
--ed.)

Realmz will not run of off a CDROM. You must copy it to your hard
drive.

Also IMPORTANT: Author also states there are problems running Realmz
on AV macs. Some players have found the game "runnable" with the
system extensions off. For AV mac owners, downloading Realmz may,
itself, be a game of chance.

Suggestions for players who own AV macs (not bad for everyone else too)
Try to turn off any extensions you don't need (all of them if you can),
disable screen savers, turn on "fast trade" option in preference menu
(this will avoid a commonly reported bug) or use the shift key to trade
items.

Q) Can I edit the portraits and sounds in Realmz? How do I edit the
portraits in Realmz?

A) The first thing we need to do is to explain to you what NOT to do:DO NOT use ResEdit to hack open your Realmz application because you
will not be able to apply patches to upgrade to future versions because
the ResCompare program that is used to apply patches will not be able
to patch your application because it will find differences between your
app and the one it thinks it's trying to patch from.

Okay, with that established, do do the following:
Create two files in the same folder as your Realmz application using
ResEdit called "Realmz Portraits" and "Realmz Sounds" [no quotes, of
course]. Each 'cicn' or 'snd ' resource you place in these files
respectively with the same resource ID number as in the Realmz main
application will be loaded at startup time, and replace the one in the
main application. To figure out which resource ID is for which picture
or sound you will have to open your Realmz application (or preferably
a copy of it) and look around. If you open your original application
be *VERY* careful not to accidentaly save any changes that might have
occurred.

Q) How do I use/change the music in Realmz? Where can I find more
MOD files for Realmz?

A) First, you put "MOD" files into the "Realmz Music" folder and
re-name it to "Indoor Music", "Outdoor Music", "Temple Music", etc...
and that file will play when you are in that area. If you are looking
for more MOD files you might try
http://www.watson.org/mods/

1.5.3

Q) Realmz runs incredibly slow on my machine [and it didn't use to].
What is the problem?

A) The first thing you can try is look below at the list of programs
that are known to be incompatible with Realmz, and disable it. The
second thing you can try is restart with extensions off, and slowly
sift through your extensions over a series of re-boots and determine
which extension is incompatible (and then report them to Tim and also
myself!). The last thing you can try is to zap your PRAM. If you do
not know how to do this -- consult someone who does because I forget
[but it has to do with holding down 'P', 'R', and two modifier keys
(which two keys, I don't remember) as your machine boots up -- you
will know you have successfully zapped your PRAM when your machine
re-re-boots. Be aware that everything you have stored in PRAM will
be erased -- your location, 32bit memory addressing, AppleTalk
settings, Chooser Settings...) You will have to reset everything.

1.5.4

Q) What are the known incompatiblities Realmz has with extensions and
other programs?
A) Not many known/confirmed. Here's ones heard of:

1.5.4.1

Aaron(2)

system: 6100/66 DOS comp.

symptoms: Crashes game/system

contributor: Ace

1.5.4.2

Faxcilitate by PSI

system: IIvx

symptoms: Slows everything down

contributor: Scott Drown

1.5.4.3

Flightstick Pro extension

system: Performa 550/12MB

symptoms: After you hide Realmz, hang upon return.

contributer: Tim Ambler

1.5.4.4

Global Village software FAX

symptoms: Slows everything down

contributor: Ace

1.5.4.5

Greg's Buttons(1,4)

symptoms: Slows down/screws up menus

contributor: David Grayson

1.5.4.6

MS Office Manager v4.1(3,4)

symptoms: Screws up sound

contributor: Ace

Footnotes:

reported for previous version[s]. May not be true of current
versions.

sporadicly behaves this way (up to 50% of time)

...and earlier versions.

behavior varies from user to user

When reporting an incompatiblity to me, please try to include as much
of the following info as possible: app/extension name, version of
app/extension, system software version, symptom(s), solution [if one
other than remove from system or disable], and contributor [so I can
give you credit!]

A) You can end a character's attack turn in one of the following ways:
attacking something, cast a spell, or one of the above options. Guard
will "save" your attack for later when a poor unsuspecting monster
wanders too close to you. Delay should be done before you move. It's
good when the character is trapped behind other characters, you can
"wait" to move until after another character has moved. Finish simply
ends the round with no attack.

A) For certain character castes, there is a percentage of the time
that they can inflict double or triple damage. Take sneak attack for
instance. You don't need to do anything (like "getting behind" a
monster) in order to attack it. Simply attack as usual, and a
certain percent of the time, depending on what level you're on, your
rogue's skillful ability to impale it's victim in a vulnerable and
"physiologically" crucial spot, your rogue inflicts triple damage.
Fighters, archers, crusaders, and monks can inflict "major wound"
which implies that the character inflicted some sort of major wound
(eg. crush skill, decapitate, maim, etc...) which causes double the
"normal" damage.

Q) How can I check to see what abilities and stamina a monster has
[left]?

A) Use command-click and where normally you're player's combat info is
displayed, the monster's combat info will be displayed.

2.1.5

Q) The text during battles is too fast! I can't read everything! What
can I do?

A) You can slow the game to a crawl if you change the preferences
setting. What I find helpful when attacking with spells and missile
weapons is to look at the text box when hitting the space bar. Sure
you miss out on seeing your spell/weapon hit the monster, but you can
see the text if you're attention is on it. (I work in a vision lab,
trust me, you can see if if you try.)

Version 1.3.2 and later "slowed" text during battle with a "speed up"
option in the preferences menu.

2.1.6

Q) How do I find enemies that are off the screen without moving around
to find them?

A) You can use the "Reveal Friends" button, or you can "Move" the view
screen. (See 3.3.1)

2.1.7

Q) Why do I have negative experience points?

A) Because experience in this game is counted down not added up. You
attain the next level when the counter gets up to zero and then it
resets to a more negative number.

Q) Sometimes when I play, all of a sudden, one or more of my characters
develop a mind of their own and start playing for themselves. What
gives? Is this a bug? How can I stop them and regain control?

A) You characters are "in retreat". This is not a bug. It's a
condition that can be brought on by certain monsters's attacks. It is
similar to your character getting charmed. To regain control, cast a
dispel magic spell on that(/those) character(s).

2.1.8

Q) My monk does a lot of damage with his bare hands, but many monsters
require a magic weapon to hit. Will the Gloves of the Seasons +2 cause
the monk's hands to be +2 weapons?

Q) How do I target spells (or missile weapons for that matter)? How
do I target stuff that's off the screen? How do I rotate spells that
can be rotated?

2.2.1.1

A) After you select the spell (or the weapon) you get a line that
starts at your character icon and ends in a little box) or big area
depending on the spell). The number in the box tells you how many
targets you may select. Move the box onto the icon of the monster and
hit "T" for "T"arget! If you are allowed more than one target, repeat
this step. If your target is off the screen and yet still within
range, pull the target box to the edge of the screen and click the
mouse button. This will scroll the screen over in that direction.
(warning: some users have complained about crashing the program by
trying to hit targets off screen, though this has never happened to
me.) When you're done targetting, hit the space bar to cast the spell
(or to launch the missile weapon).

Hit "RETURN" to rotate spells like Wall of Fog, Wall of Force, Wall of
Ice before targetting.

2.2.2.3

Feature as of v1.5. Spells requiring line of sight (ie. can be
blocked by walls, trees, mushrooms...) are signified with a little eye
in the targetting box in the spell selection screen.

2.2.2

Q) Sometimes a magic-using character is not given the opportunity to
cast spells even when they are conscious and have plenty of spell
points. What gives?

A) Ah ha! I guess it's hard for a character who has been hit during a
turn to cast any spells. If you think of all the things that happen in
one "round" of a combat as simultaneous, then I suppose it would be
hard to concentrate on casting a spell while someone is beating you to
a pulp.

But they can use a scroll (either a pre-made scroll or one in their
scroll case) instead of a spell if they've been hit.

2.2.3

Q) Why am I a 3rd level priest with only 2nd level spells?

A) Priests get all the spells for a certain level all at once, but they
only get new spells something like every other level. Consult the
appendix in the manual for advancement.

A) You can't put the scrolls you find into scroll cases. You can USE
them whenever you want. But you can create your own scrolls, buy
yourself some blank parchment. Set up camp and the character with the
scroll case and the parchment will have a create scroll button. Then
create the scroll and it will give you the usual spell window and you
cast the spell as you would usually. A scroll will appear in your
scroll case. It takes twice as many spell points to make a scroll than
to simply cast it, but it's good to save up scrolls.

2.3.2

Q) Why can't I use scrolls [that I find/buy]? Can I use a scroll more
than once?

A) Some characters can't use some scrolls. I think priests can only
use priest's scrolls (a priestly spell in scroll form). See above
about putting scrolls into scroll cases. To check whether a character
can use a scroll (or any item for that matter) go to trade and put that
character in the left side and start clicking on stuff. A red stop
sign will show up on the item and you'll get a little clunk sound. Try
giving the scroll to a character of a different caste, or one with
more wisdom/intelligence (depending on whether priest or sorcerer).

Scrolls are good because they can be created before a battle. During
the fight, when a spell-caster runs out of spell points, he/she can
then use scrolls, which already used spell points to create and now
can be used. Each scroll in a scroll case disappears after being used.
The nX number before it simply tells you the spell's power level, but
picked up scrolls will have an nX after it to tell you how many times
it can be used.

Crusaders can use priestly scrolls and rogues can eventually use magic
user's scrolls. And you can also option click on an item at anytime to
see an information window that tells you all about it and who can use
it. (Thanks to Dave Wetzel - Editor: "Oh yeah... totally forgot about
that, but I often determine who gets what after a fight when I'm
dividing up the plunder in the trade screen".)

Q) How can I get information on items to see whether a certain
character can use it or what it's attributes are?

A) Use option-click to look at info on items before picking up or
buying the item on the shop/item screen, on the character's inventory
screen, and on the treasure screen.

2.4.3

Q) My party has kicked butt, earned lots of gold. With that gold we
have armed ourselves to the teeth. But now my characters are so
weighted down that I only have one move per turn. What can I do
without any of my precious armor or hard earned gold?

2.4.3.1

A) The weight is more likely due to the gold than anything else you may
be carrying around. Go to a shop or temple and have the gold changed
to gems (or jewelery... don't recall if that's possible). Gems are
worth more than gold so you will get fewer gems than gold, thus
lightening your load. There is a nominal fee for converting gold to
gems but if your gold is becoming a weight problem, it's likely that
you will not mind loosing a few gold pieces per gem. There is no fee
for converting back, though. To convert click on the bag with the
jewels directly under your party's amount of pooled gold.

A) You can also take advantage of the new banking feature that is
available in Realmz 2.1.1. You can now leave your money at the shops
and it will be there when you come back.

2.4.4

Q) After I go to a shop all my money dissappears! What happened?

A) You have to remember to "share" your money before you leave (since
you had to pool your money to buy stuff when you came in). Turn the
"Forget money protection" ON in the preferences menu so that it will
ask you if you want to get the money before you leave.

Version 1.3 and later have an option in the preferences to
automatically convert your gems to gold if you don't have enough to
buy something.

Q) For one reason or another (encumbrance bug, missed quest...) I want
to drop a character and add another one and it says levels exceeded, or
I want to take my characters back through the same adventure and keep
all their possessions, what do I do?

A) Register your game! When you do; there will no longer be a
restriction on levels (although the number will still be there to
indicated the difficulty of the scenario) so you can put any level
character back into the party and they keep their possessions when
saving the game. That is, the "character" file is update as well as
the save file.

2.6.2

Q) Why should I use a archer insead of a fighter/an enchanter instead
of a sorcerer, a monk instead of a rogue, etc...? What are the pros
and cons of each character?

A) I've added this one in answer to the recent debate of: Why does my
archer suck?

The following are the pros and cons of each caste, and things you can
consider in determining their usefulness. (Comments courtesy of Eric
W. Anderson -- edited by me.)

While they are a bit weak at low levels, at high levels they
are among the most effective fighters. They are the quickest caste to
get multiple attacks, and the Robe of Speed makes them truly impressive
at dishing out damage. Once you pickup some of the better bracers of
defense (AC4 or 8) their AC is about as good as anyone's. When rolling
a monk, hang in there until you get a good constitution -- a d6+3 per
level gives them plenty of hit points.

Monks are to fighters and rogues what Crusaders are to fighters
and priests. They combine elements of both castes.(--Chris Baginski?)
So why bother with any of the "base" castes? (--ed.) They get lots of
Special abilities at higher levels, like regeneration.

Good at low levels, when those extra hit points really help
(they start out better than fighters but wind up somewhat lower);
having a missile weapon puts them above Crusaders at the start. At
high levels, they fall off. Even with the Shalomar (unique Bow +2)
missile weapons are no big deal. They are slow to get extra blows.
(It is even worse when you look at how much experience they need to get
extra blows rather than just how many levels -- the high EP needed to
advance at high levels is an obvious holdover from some game where they
get spells).

Both monks and archers get some limited rogue skills, but even the
locks and traps abilities of true rogues are of limited value, so I
don't count them for much. There is rarely anything that a rogue can
do that can't be done easily some other way. Why disarm traps? -- use
knock and take the damage if necessary; why steal the keys? -- attack
the guards and take them.

Not bad in City of Bywater. There are a few traps that can
actually hurt a low-level party and they are not that much weaker at
fighting than other one-swing types. But once the fighters start to
accumulate metal armor, magic weapons, stamina and swings the rogue
starts to look worse and worse. Sometimes it is nice to have someone
who can plunk an arrow or apply a healing unguent, but on the whole I
don't find them much us[e] beyond CofB. Theoretically they can read
scrolls, but the odds are so bad that it is not usually worth wasting
a turn, let alone a scroll, to try.

I've found rogues to be let down after let down. I have now
replaced the rogue with a monk because my rogue would invariably be the
one to bite it a tough battle. I'll take one more pair of hands out
there pulling some weight in a fight than a rogue's abilities. (--ed.)

The last mainly fighting caste, I have mixed feelings about.
For the first few levels, they are basically fighters. Not having a
missile weapon is an annoying limitation at low levels, but at higher
levels where the damage from even a magic bow is so small relative to
melee, that annoyance disappears. I find their priestly abilities
useful in three ways. At low levels, I have had them turn undead that
the priest missed, or had them get the chance to turn before the priest
did (maybe saving the MU or Ench). Second, there are times when even a
Cure Light Wounds can bring a character back into battle and turn the
tide. Finally, they can read scrolls written by the priest, so even
if they have only 1st level spells they can use an extra swing to read
a Festering Wounds x7 or a Blade Barrier that the party's priest
put on paper. Besides, the more people who can cast charm person, the
better your odds of not getting hacked to pieces by your own people.
On the whole, I think that the extra abilities of Palidinhood make up
for the limitations and the slower advancement.

Personally (--ed. speaking now) I love 'em. First, because I
just think the "Knight" leading my part is just way cool (though a bit
traditional in thinking, I admit). But if you spend more time during
the rolling of a crusader (look for high strength and wisdom, and with
some special conditions to boot -- extra +'s on hit to something) you
can end up with a fast moving really strong character, that can cast
healing spells (a big plus when all you characters are gone and you're
the only one left... you have two attacks or three out of two and you
have a moment to give yourself a little extra juice to throw yourself
back into the fray). My consistent choice for spot #1 in my party.
(--ed.)

What can I say? Every party needs one. The healing is
essential, and at higher levels they get a nice selection of offensive
spells as well. Beyond CofB, I have rarely used them in combat, though
with a potion of speed they can get enough swings to help. Plus, you
can then go (swing, swing, spell) and all the weapon damage is extra.

Though you have to protect them, in many battles they
kill more of the enemy than do the fighters. I have been somewhat
disappointed by their contribution compared to high level priests and
enchanters as I near the end of AoGM. Maybe I have chosen spells
poorly -- I have picked at least two that I doubt I'll ever cast (Mass
Charm and Portable Hole).

Who is it that keeps asking for Druids (ooh! ooh! me! me!
--ed.)? These are clearly the druids (okay then give some enchanter
spells to the archers! --ed.)-- look at the spells (Bark Skin, Call
Lightning errr make that Lightning Strike) and the allowed armor and
weapons (Leather, Scimitars). (yeah, but I remember AD&D druids are
limited to the same "dull" weapons as priests? --ed.) You can play
them through CofB and if they do nothing but cast Bark Skin
continuously they have pulled their weight. At intermediate levels I
have found them less useful than MUs, but once they get Cloudkill they
resume making a big contribution to killing the enemy.

I agree and disagree. I always find them much more useful than
sorcerers, because in the end, against a horde of small foes, they
can hack away at the bad guys with the best of 'em. Better armor and
better weapons definitely gives these guys an edge over sorcerers at
lower levels because they can stand their own in a fight when they
don't have many good spells cast or many spell points to use. (--ed.)

INFORMATION ALERT: There is a change in the location of the file Data
CD. If you use an updater to patch to version 2.3 or higher from
version 2.2, then you should move the file Data CD from the DATA folder
to the CHARACTERS folder. It will save you many headaches. Do it
right after you finish patching to version 2.3, before you fire it up
for a test drive.

2.7.2

BUG ALERT: If you are downloading the entire version of 2.3, then you
MUST also download the updater to version 2.3.3. There is a bug that
prevents the game from remembering your serial number when you transfer
your registration.

2.7.3

BUG ALERT: If you are using version 1.0 of the Griloch's Revenge
scenario, you MUST download version 1.1 and restart the scenario
immediately! A bug in version 1.0 prevents you from being able to
receive your reward and completing the scenario.

2.7.4

BUG ALERT: Users that downloaded version 4.3 or 4.3.1 of the Realmz
engine must also download the 4.3.2 patch. Bugs exists in the 4.3 and
4.3.1 versions that causes the names of all the items that pre-4.3
characters are carrying to be invalid after conversion to 4.3 and the
new races to work properly, respectively.

Q) What's the main difference between novice to veteran difficulty? Is
the veteran mode have harder monsters but less treasure and experience
or is it harder monsters with more experience and treasure?

A) It's the latter. You get more experience, more gold, the same
"magic" items but I noticed that the shops carry better stuff
(especially Madam Otik's Magic stuff shop). I found it much easier to
attain higher levels and hoard treasure near the beginning of the game.
You will attain levels faster if you have low level characters in a
veteran's game. Each scenario has a "recommended number of levels".
For the City of Bywater it is '6', which means best for 6 1st level
characters or one 6th level character. As you exceed the recommended
levels, you will not get as many XP.

A) It determines what monsters you will face. Some are the same across
settings, others are different. It will affect the both which monsters
you get as well as how hard the monsters are. The difficulty settings
will increase/decrease the difficulty within the set of monsters you
have selected. For example, goblins in the "normal monster set" may be
trolls in the "monster monster set".

Q) I get a dialog box that asks if I want to do something, and I decide
I don't want to do it because my party is too wimpy. When I return the
monster or situation is gone! What gives?

A) You only get one shot at nearly all of the quests. If at any point
you get these types of dialogs, say "YES"! Risk it! You won't have a
second chance if you run away. Just save more often, and you can
restore to the previous state before you get killed be the quest. You
can say no to random encounters like giants, orcs, kobalds, goblins,
shantiles... But never pass up an opportunity to fight a demon,
dragon, wizard...

Same thing holds true if you take the dagger from the old woman, her
shop stays closed for the rest of the game. High price to pay for
being greedy. How do you select the answer to the questions? Try to
choose the most noble, proud, brave, fool-hardy thing. Don't be afraid
to take risks, but don't be unkind.

"It's better to be dragon chow than to sit in the tavern at the city
of Bywater telling everybody that you were the one that got away"

-Matt Hicks

There are a FEW exceptions to this rule. The beastmen corral will ask
if you want to do it later. You can do it later. There are many ways
to get into the spider tower. If you refuse to help the king's priest,
you can still do a frontal assult through the front door or a sneak
attack through the secret passage. You can also decide to leave and
come back later to the town brothel.

If you've already blew it on some of them and want a second chance,
register your game and restart the adventure with your old characters
in a "new" party. You'll feel more confident with your entire arsenal
of weaponry and armor.

3.2.2

Q) I'm stuck (somewhere: eg. Finger mountains in Prelude to Pestilence)
and I've tried everything. -OR- I'm (somewhere) I'm supposed to be, and
I can't use (some item) like (someone said I could).

A) Look around for the "suspicious" locations. You will find that you
can click the "Encounter" button at those locations and then cast a
spell, read a scroll or use an item.

Q) Is there a better way to kill monsters that are separated from you
by a wall or a mountain than to wander all over the screen to track it
down?

A) Of course! If you are intent on hunting it down and killing it by
hand, there is a button called "Move". While the cursor is an arrow,
you normally click to make the character move in that direction. If
you press "M" you can scroll the window in that direction without
moving your character, so you don't have to wander aimlessly looking
for a break in the wall. Keep in mind that the battle map is just a
zoom in of the dungeon/surface map. If you remember the terrain before
you enter the combat, you'll find that it's pretty much the same after.
Another thing that helps is that sometimes the monsters aren't even on
the screen and you don't know which way to wander... try "R" for reveal
friends. You'll find that it also reveals your enemies too. If you
have a fairly strong spell caster, you could blink over to the bad guys
too.

If you just "F"inish each character's attack turn, and repeat for 4 our
5 rounds, the battle ends anyway. (Thanks to Richard Drysdall) I've
noticed that you get no (that's right ZERO) experience points if you
bag out of a fight this way.

But the best way to kill monsters from far away, that I've found is to
have an enchanter in the party able to cast Lightning Strike. This
spell's range is up to 20 units away and if you have enough spell
spell points can inflict up to 24 points of damage (if I recall
correctly). Very efficient. Cannot be blocked by walls, slagtites,
mountains...etc. Other good low level spells for range killing
include Flame Spikes and Cosmic Blast.

3.3.2

Q) I've been hacking away at [monster x] for ages. It it possible to
kill it?

A) Of course! Maybe you need stronger characters? (Come back when you
are.) Perhaps a different strategy? Better weapons?

In version 1.5 some monsters need magical weapons with a minimum plus
value to even score a hit.

3.3.3

Q) Can I retreat from a hopeless battle?

A) Yes, but you must run far enough away. If your characters has more
moves/turn than the monster, you might make it, otherwise, you're
better off standing your ground and take your shellacking like a
man (er.. apologies from un-PC-ness). There is a new button called
escape that lets you bail out of a hopeless fight, but you have to be
at least 10 spaces away.

3.3.4

Q) My characters often bleed to death and I hate to have to use up one
turn of one of my characters' attacks to bandage them. Besides, often
monsters are too close and pummel me after I finish bandaging. What
can I do?

A) I keep a weakling rogue around for tasks like picking locks,
acrobatic maneuvers, and launching arrows from a long distance. The
character can dish out much more than it can take. It often misses
when in melee, so I hide it behind everyone else. I use it to safely
bandage bleeding characters without feeling that I've wasted a valuable
attack.

3.3.3

Q) My characters are being slaughtered all the time. Am I doing
something wrong?

A) Don't ever underestimate or overlook the use of priests (and even
crusaders and enchanters) to to do a little healing on some of your
characters during a fight. It may seem like you're "wasting an attack"
but it can really pay off. Sometimes you get a lot of stamina back
sometimes you only get a few, but part of the fight is defense.

Before you get into a fight that you know is about to happen, cast some
protective spells: speed (or is it haste?), vorpal plate, bless...

During the fight, keep an eye on the stamina of your "slugger" (the guy
that ends up putting away most of the bad guys. If he/she's hurting,
then heal him/her up. If he/she is the last one standing after a fight
then he/she get's all the experience, then he/she get's even better at
his/her job. It's worth it.

Q) What's the best combination of character castes for a party? How
do I stay alive at the beginning of the game? I've wandered all around
the City of Bywater and the surrounding woodlands, now what?

A) I've finally broken down and decided to answer these questions.
Most RPG veterans can skip this.

The best party is a well balanced with at least one rogue, one strong
"fighter-type", and one spell caster. The remaining three are up to
your choosing: usually two more fighting characters and one spell
caster or vice versa. What I mean by fighter-type is fighter, crusader,
archer or monk. I usually start with a crusader/fighter for their sheer
strength and fighting ability. They get all the best offensive weapons
and the most of the armor. I put them right in front to take hits and
protect spell casters and use them to carry most of the gold and junk
to be sold. A rogue is good for the occasional lock pick, acrobatic
maneuver, or trap detection. Most are fairly weak but very dextrous so
I usually arm them with bows and arrows and hide the behind the others.
The first caste of spell casters that I don't leave home without is a
priest. They can wear any armor and cast healing spells. Both are big
plusses. The remaining members of a party is really up to taste. My
next choice in fighting characters is a archer and then a monk. My
next choice for spell casters would be an enchanter because they can
wear a little more armor and carry short swords, unlike sorcerers,
who basically only fight with daggers. My current party of choice thus
consists of: Crusader, Archer, Priest, Enchanter, Sorcerer and Rogue.
Monks just don't seem worth the effort for me, and fighters and archers
are comparable, so why not go with the more exotic? Besides, I've had
really good results from archers, better stamina, hit %, damage, and
missile weapon hit %. More recently I've replaced rogues with monks
because they're more effective in a fight and also have lock pick
abilities

When you enter the world of Realmz the first time you are poor and
naked. The first thing you should do is get into the castle by any
means you can. You probably should avoid brute force and bribes since
you will probably be weak, unarmed, and broke. Once in the castle, you
will be employed by the king to rid Bywater of the evil arachnids that
live in the spider tower. But he won't send you away empty handed, he
will let you go through the castle's armory before you go.

Once armed and a little more confident, wander around the buildings of
Bywater, visit with the orcs in the northeast, the goblins in the south
west and wander the entire visible map. Once you're done you can begin
wandering around in caves and looking for secret places to go to. If
you're still lost consult the City of Bywater tip sheet and try to
visit all those places.

A) You won't. Due to the non-linearity of the game (you can complete
quests in any order) there is no way of knowing if "you're done".
EXCEPT for the Bywater scenario, there is a "tip sheet".

If you've done everything on the list, then you've done everything
there is to do. So now what? Start over with a different party.
Start over with a smaller party. Start over and do everything
differently than you did before (agree to fight the orcs instead of the
goblins; fight your way into the Spider Tower instead of finding the
Undead Army...).

This tip sheet used to be included with the scenario. Now it's not,
but it's available at all the usual sites. See: Where to get Realmz.

4.1.2

Q) What are some of the "hard" monsters [in the City of Bywater
scenario]? Where can I go for a good fight?

A) The following is an incomplete list of "good fights" in Bywater and
surrounding areas. (My definition of a "good fight" is one in which I
felt like I stood to have or did have all my character's wiped out at
one point or another. --ed.)

4.1.2.1

in Waterford:

The "Beholder" in the temple at the sunken town of Waterford, as
well as the his "guardians". If you choose right (or wrong, as it were
if your goal is not a "good fight" but to quickly get through all the
bad guys) you can get 2 fights from the orb.

Also elsewhere in Waterford is the Wizard's tower. The wizard is not
as big of a deal as the guardians in front of the stairs. Remember
that there are guardians on both sides of the stairs.

4.1.2.2

in the Underdark/Kobold Caverns

Two Red Dragons in the Kobold Caverns. Lots of dinosaurs and 4 Green
Dragons in a different part of the same cave. You can also summon
Rewop, a demon, and his guardians at the pentagram in the same cave.

Also in the Kobold Caverns (Underdark) is some grand wizard and a group
of ogres.

And you can find a good fight at the Spider Tower. v1.5 and later has
a Queen Spider (Widow of the web) and guardians too.

4.1.2.5

A Blue Dragon just out side of town.

4.1.2.6

A band of Mind Slayers that appear in town. These guys are _tough_ for
an "in town" encounter. If you don't have the firepower, don't mess
with them.

Where [, specifically,] are these places? You'll have to wander around
yourself to find them. (Geez do you want everything to be spoon fed to
you? --ed.)

4.1.3

Q) I've got wimpy 1st level characters. How can I get some gold to buy
some awesome weaponry and armor before venturing forth?

A) There are ways to "get" magical items without a fight. The King
will give you a lot of generic stuff for just agreeing to go on his
quest. But how do you get past the magistrate to get into the castle?
Well, don't ignore poor little beggars in the streets. If you scratch
her back (or her dog's back) she'll scratch yours (in a manner of
saying). And besides, you could bribe the magistrate? Or maybe show
him a bad forgery and then apologize for it? He might find it funny
and let you in anyway. There's a lame giant that has a stash of magic
armor/weapons that he'll let you in on if you help him. (He's near the
lake where all the other giants are. If you take the dagger from the
old woman being attacked in the town, you'll have one awesome weapon,
but you're better off letting her be, and buying the dagger from her
later. The arena is always good for 50 gold pieces (and whatever the
monster might be carrying) a shot. Also, pick up as many weapons and
armor as you can carry and sell it back to the shops (if your mac
doesn't crash when doing so). You can accumulate a lot of money this
way.

4.1.4

Q) I can't find the orc king's daughter (the lame giant, ...). Where
do I look for them?

A) Most of these are random encounters. You have to be wandering in
the general vicinity to "find" these encounters. ie. The orc princess
is somewhere in the forest just east of the city of Bywater. Were
exactly depends, but turn on constant search and you'll be more likely
to find these, and also more likely to get attacked by random monsters.

With the exception of the Gazer from Beyond, which some people have
trouble finding. He's at the altar in the north eastern corner in the
ornate temple in the sunken city of Waterford. When you find him, put
the characters you most want to keep alive in the circle, and do not
smash the orb or be too brash with him. You'll find he has a bit of
an ego that is easily bruised.

4.1.5

Q) What do I do with the Book of Turnians(sp?)?

A) Sell it. As far as I can tell, it doesn't do anything, no one else
really wants it. Just take the 250 gp for it.

Q) I'm trapped!! I've tried everything!! How do I get out of the
Fingertip Mountains/Spider's Nest?

A) Have you tried the Encounter button? Try flying or spider climbing
or something.

4.2.2

Q) How do I save Tessandra?

A) Try that nifty Encounter button again. Make sure someone in your
party's got some spell points and a few good tricks up their sleeves.

4.2.3

Q) Why won't the guards let me back into town?

A) You have to get permission to leave first, and second, if you are
carrying or wearing a Griloch's necklace, then get rid of it!

4.3.4

Q) Why does it hang at the end of this scenario when I try to fight
the army of Grilochs?

A) Scenario bug? Try dropping your NPC's before you start this fight.

4.3.5

Q) Why can't I get into the castle in the south?

A) In version 1.0, the castle was just a red herring. You can see it
but you couldn't get to it. Now there is a secret entrance through
the mountains, but once you get to the castle, you must not be wearing
a Griloch's necklace. (You might need to be wearing a necklace of
Berthune.)

A) Nothing. Tim was going to use it for something, where you put two
coins or your hands into the indentations or something, but ran out of
time, and just released the scenario with the boulder in place. It's
a red herring. Move on.

4.3.2

Q) How do I get past the Glowing dog?

A) Use your encounter button and give him some food (aka. iron ration).

4.3.3

Q) Am I finished? Where's the all the fanfare and hoorahs?

A) Go to the Baron in the east of the city. The king is does nothing.

4.3.4

Tip) Don't kill the hag that's foaming at the mouth. Later you'll find
her body in town, and on it will be a gloomy ring. Take it to the
King's Graveyard. You'll have to figure out the rest.

4.3.5

Q) What other uses does the Horn of Annoyance have?

A) Aside from summoning the "Vermin" at the cave in the west, you can
also use it at the gorge where all the hill giants hurl stones down on
you. If you click the encounter button just before you get to the
fortress, and "Use" the Horn, it will cause them to plummet to their
death, and you will no longer have to deal with them when you go past
that way.

4.3.6

Q) Where are the dwarves?

A) They're in a cave just south east of the town. When you enter
you will find "lots of foot-prints". Go to the edge of the lake and
click on the encounter button and cast some spell (fly, teleport...)
and you will be transported to the island in the middle of the lake.
Walk around on the island.

4.3.7

Q) Where is Lequetus [the father of all giant-kind]? -or- How do I
get to him/that castle on the other side of the moat?

A) You must return the Axe of Ashbelt to the dwarves. Get the Anvil
of Pain from the Dwarves, find the sword: Giant Slayer and smash it
by "using" the anvil. Then a little rock will sprout up in the moat
arount Lequetus's island allowing you to cross over. The island is
located in the south eastern most corner of the scenario. (Go past
the hill giant citadel, go through the mountain passage and head east.

4.3.8

Q) I've finished the hill giant's citadel, destroyed the ice and fire
giant's citadel, killed Lequetus and co., went back to the king and the
Baron, and got NOTHING! Where is the end of the game message? How do
I get the Flail of Doom +5 that everyone is talking about?

A) There is some bug in versions of this scenario up to v.2.2.1 I have
not played through v.2.3 to confirm if the bug still exists. You must
destroy Lequetus _first_, before you do anything else (kill off any off
the other giants), and return to the Baron's castle. The King will
reward you with the Flail of Doom +5 and you will get the "You have won
the game" message. You can go back and do the rest of the scenario
after this and obtain the usual hoorahs. Or if you want to do things
in "partial right order" do everything, but do not finish the "last
room" in the hill giant's citadel. Do everything else in order, and
after you defeat Lequetus, go back to the Baron, then come back and
finish off the giants. This is the way to get maximum good stuff from
this scenario. (Thanks to Thomas Weigle)

Q) Where is X deadstone? How do I get X deadstone? Which coming of
doom is X deadstone for?

A) What follows is my comprehensive spoiler list for deadstones:

Gluttony (1st coming of doom):

Can be found in Queen Selene's Castle.
The castle is @X:9,Y:85. Within the castle find Bumpus the
evil cook AX:55,Y:62. He will show you to his secret place in
the castle @X:39,Y:77. After you go through the secret passage
you will find the deadstone @X3,Y:77.

Hate (2nd coming of doom):

On a patrol of barrow trolls and viperions
near the 2nd coming of doom.

Anger (3rd coming of doom):

Can be found in a small pyramid south of
the giant's village. The entrance to the cave is @X:39,Y:83.

Fear (3rd coming of doom):

Can be found in the Greckle caves. The cave
entrance is @X79,Y:52. The stone is in a small pyramid in the
cave @X:60,Y:7. To reach it, you must use the encounter button
and one spell that works is Portable Hole.

Jealousy (3rd coming of doom):

Can be found in a small pyramid in a
small clearing in the north. The secret entrance to the
clearing is @X49:y:83.

Disgust (4th coming of doom):

Can be found if you cast a raise dead or
animate dead spell on the dead mammoth you find in the 3rd
coming of doom. The secret passage is @X:75,Y:77. The dead
mammoth is @X:78,Y:71

Loathing (4th coming of doom):

Can be found in a small pyramid north of
the 4th coming of doom. Go through the red "2-faced gate" in
the southeast of the main map. You will end up on a second
area. The small pyramid is located @X:19,Y:2.

----The following stones are found in the abyss----

Suspicion (one of the four small pyramids in the abyss):

Can be found
on the Lich from Bywater. The lich is in the castle just past
the Rothian's (giants in the abyss) village.

Vengeance & Emptiness (for the small pyramids in the abyss):

Can be
found in the eye sockets of the dead skeletal beast in the
first small pyramid.

Scorn (for the small pyramids in the abyss):

Can be found in a pouch on
one of the pit demons in one of the small pyramids.

Malevolence & Repulsion (for the last of the four small pyramids in
the abyss): found in two rooms of one small pyramids. No
living PC can get these. (see scrying stone vision.)

4.5.2

Q) Where is the Xth coming of doom? How do I get to Xth coming of
doom?

A) What follows is the comprehensive spoiler list for the locations of
each coming of doom.

1st: On the island in the middle of the map. You get across to the
island by crossing the rocks @X52,Y30. The pyramid itself is
@X:49,Y:42. It arrives around midnight on the 35th day.

2nd: In a clearing in the Northwest of the map. The cave entrance to
the clearing is @X:19,Y:7. The pyramid is @X:7,Y:9. It
arrives around midnight on the 45th day.

3rd: In the middle of Starling village @X:83,Y:11. It arrives at
midnight on the 54th day.

4th: In the area past the red "2-faced gate" the location is @X:86,Y:41
and it arrives around midnight about 10 days after you finish
the 3rd.

4.5.3

Q) Is the axe in the third bastion necessary for the completion of the
scenario? How do I get the axe in the third bastion?

A) No, the axe is not neccessary. But it's a pretty awesome axe. You
can get it by drinking a gaseous form potion, which you can purchase
from the shop @X:7,Y:78.

4.5.4

Q) How do I use the portals to get into and out of the Abyss?

A) The word "shastik" (in pre-v4.0 version is "shirak") will activate
the portal in the 4th bastion and get you into the abyss. The word
"vistock" will activate the portal in the bastion in the abyss to get
you home.

4.5.5

Q) What's the deal with the guard in the weapons shop in [Queen
Selene's] castle?

A) Hit the encounter button and cast a charm humanoid spell. He'll
give you some weapons. One is not magical. Take a look at it before
you decide to chuck it.

4.5.6

Tip) NPC's are plentiful in this scenario. Some of which are pretty
nifty: giants, titans, tigtaurs... but it becomes obvious fairly
quickly, that the "large" NPC's are not always an advantage. In tight
places, they just get in your way, and being that they have more
"surface-area" they tend to get beat up pretty quickly. (contributed
by Rick Decker, confirmed by --ed.)

4.5.7

Tip) This scenario has some wraiths. If you turn them, they are pretty
good NPC's to keep. They're small (see above), they have lots of
stamina, and they charm almost anything they hit. (also contributed by
Rick Decker, and I agree --ed.)

A) The middle piece is found inside the burning bush dungeon. The
bottom pice is on 'K' Island, but you need the Staff of Seeking. And
the top piece is given to you when you return the Icon of Ahcrahn.

4.6.2

Q) How do I get the Staff of Seeking?

A) You need to figure out how to get inside the dwarf's shifting shack
in Cheltin.

4.6.3

Q) Where is the Icon of Ahcrahn?

A) It's in Lonum Keep. You will need the dingy to get to and from
Lonum Keep. If you use the teleporter in Cheltin Castle, you will not
have a way back.

4.6.4

Q) Where is the dingy?

A) The brother tells you where the dingy is. He needs to give you a
map to a secret tunnel that leads to the dingy, however he forgets to
give it to you when he gives you the oars.

4.6.5

Q) What do all the levers in Griloch's Castle do?

A) The upper three is a combination, and the lower one activates a
portal depending on the combination of the upper three. The correct
combination takes you to the underground maze.

Q) I was minding my own business, and all of a sudden I'm dead.
What should I do?

A) Save! Save often!

4.7.2

Q) What is that couple of white squares that stick out into the lake?

A) Well, you must be a faithful Realmz patcher, and have been
patching for some time. I'm sad to inform you that it's time to
download a full copy of Realmz and replace your "Data"
folder. One of the updaters omitted a few important graphics,
namely a dock and a ship, which those three little white
squares should be.

4.7.3

Q) What the *@%#$ do all the *#&%*$! levers do?

A) Which one(s)?

4.7.3.1

X:11 Y:55 in Castle Brierwood 1st level --

Makes door appear at X:33 Y:66 on the same level. If
you don't pull this lever, you won't get very far in
this scenario.

4.7.3.2

X:33 Y:25 in the Castle Brierwood 3rd level -- next to corpse

Jolts corpse (and PC that pulled it) with a lightening
bolt bringing the corpse to life and slapping PC with
100+ pts of damage. (the "animated killer" isn't
carrying anything that's really worth the trouble.)

4.7.3.3

X:25 Y:34 through X:29 Y34 in the Castle Brierwood 3rd level

Reveals doors to the three mysterious rooms without
doors to north of the room with the levers. There
appear to be no hints to which levers to pull in the
game. One combination of levers that works is: 1, 3,
and 4 (counting from right). One item in the room is
worth the effort.

4.7.3.4

X:24 Y:6 in Castle Brierwood 3rd level -- by the big indoor

swimming pool. Raises little blocks that allow you to
cross over to the platform in the middle of the pool.
Getting the necklace off the statue is your problem.

4.7.3.5

X:12 Y:16 in Castle Brierwood 3rd level -- in the storage room

Reveals door to 4th level.

4.7.3.6

X:78 Y:14 in Castle Brierwood 5th level -- in Chloe's prison

Raises boulders allowing you to cross the lava pool.

4.7.3.7

X:57 Y:13 Zaphres castle -- "Slot machine from hell"

Lowers wall blocking stairs to second floor (and
various other "interesting things"). Pull 6, 9, and 12
to lower wall (counting from the upper right going
counterclockwise). Lever 3 will take you to "Zaphre's
Maze", and you can pull Lever 5 "for fun".

4.7.4

Q) Where is the "man to the south" that the gryphons were talking
about? I've searched every house south of the battle with the
dragons and the gryphons.

A) You got to go a lot further south than those houses. You're no
where near where the man actually lives.

4.7.5

Q) I'm at the dock and the boat, and the man tells me I can't
sail because and that there's no wind. What do I do now?

A) Well, there's one other task that you have not yet done.
Look to the northeast. There's some gryphons who could use
your help first.

4.7.6

Q) What do I do with the sword in the tree?

A) Pull it out. One out of twenty will successfully yank it out.
But it's not important to the scenario, so don't worry if you
don't manage to get it.

4.7.7

Q) How do I get past the canyon where you get blown back by the strong
winds?

A) If you can't get past it, you're not ready to get past it.

4.7.8

Q) I lost [insert name of some special NPC here]. Do I need
him/her later to complete the game?

Q) What are some "neat" bugs, cheats, or "pro" strategies for this
game?

A) WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS (for the purists).
Granted that some of these are just bugs that may be done away with
soon, and others are just little tricks that I've learned. But either
way, they can really make the game boring if you use some of these
tricks or cheats.

Trick) A useful trick that is available in (I think --ed.) all of the
scenarios is the ability to get yourself back to the main map at any
time. Just click on the Encounter button and then on the Speak button.
Speak the word, "home", and you will be transported back to the main
map.

5.2.4

Hack) Frustrated because your crusader can't use missile weapons?
You can hack the character's save file by: give the character the
missile weapon you want him to use. Use a Hex editor and find that
weapon [and it's accessories if applicable] and then "equip" it by
changing it's equiped/unequiped flag. See below.

5.2.5

Trick) to quickly gain levels (the cheater's way):
1. Begin new adventure in Assault.
2. Set diffuculty to veteran, this should cause lower level groups to
gain experience at 250%.
3. Get horn of deafening [does he mean 'Annoyance'? --ed.]
4. Go to square near hill giant citadel, just before gaints throw rocks
at you. I think it is Y:85 X:86, or vise versa.
5. Unequip all items on first charachter, and tade[?huh? -ed.] so the
horn is first on his list. [this is probably not necessary --ed.]
6. Press E (encounter), click on items, press U (use), click mouse
twice, click done. All charachters gain 5000 experience.
7. Repeat.
Its takes me about 15 min. of doing this to get my full party to gain
one level, which includes a MU and Enc., both level 19 - 375,000 exp.
per level. In this time, my level 25 rogue gains 25,000 short of 2
levels. (Contributed by "SolVenT")

5.2.6

Trick)If you're willing to trade large quantities of money for
hard-to-come-by items, shops will "recharge" things for you. Sell an
item like a used-up staff or Prism of Power, then buy it back and it's
fully charged! This also works for potions and things like the Arrow of
Lightning or Biting Vipers: split it up into separate items. Sell each
of the items in a shop. As the shop buys a single arrow/potion/item, it
turns to a group of items again--in other words, a single dose of Cure
Critical Wounds potion turns into 3 doses, which you can then buy back.
You can repeat this as many times as you like; I have characters with
60 Arrows of Lightning and 80 doses of Cure Critical Wounds!
(Contributed by Andrew Sasaki)

5.2.7

Tip) From time to time (especially in DtN against Greckles) you will
find yourself hit with so many "Entangle" spells that your characters
are permanently entangled. Until now, the solution has been to use a
hex editor to "fix" your characters because dispel magic and remove
curse doesn't work when trying to "legitimately" fix your character.
You can try casting a "Haste" spell to unentangle your characters.
(Contributed by Ace via Quanah Harjo)

If you have not read
section 0, please do so now if you plan on hacking
your saved games. Let me remind you that I am not to be held responsible for
anything that happens to your game(s). Concepts remain vague to protect the
incompetent, the following questions will not be answered: Where do I get a
hex editor? How do I change [something]? What do I do if I screw [something]
up/How do I undo [something] after I screw it up? Remember, if you don't know
what you are doing, then you probably shouldn't be doing it.